Road trip: Tammisaari / Ekenäs, Finland

Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go; it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow.

I promised to tell you about my road trip to Ekenäs (Tammisaari in Finnish) last Friday. My boyfriend needed to go there 'cause of his work, so I tagged along since I think it is such a lovely small city. Nowadays it belongs to a larger city called Raseborg (in Finnish Raasepori, a result of a merger between the towns of Tammisaari, Karjaa and the commune of Pohja), but in my mind Ekenäs will always be its very own town. Ekenäs has about 15 000 inhabitants and is a beautiful summer city! Have a look at the photos I took during my day there!

Ekenäs has a lot of lovely wooden buildings in its picturesque Old Town. You got to love these pastel color beauties! The Old Town offers insight into the history of Finnish towns, as well as examples of building practices in past centuries.

Ekenäs also has a stunning church, originally built in 1842! The church represents the neoclassic architectual style.

I thought it was cute that there were homes that had the flag of Ekenäs! The name Ekenäs combines in English the words oak and isthmus, and, therefore, you can see a small oak on the flag. Super cute!

Idyllic was also seeing lawns where clothes and linen were dried outside on a rope - a unique sight in today's Finland!

Ekenäs like Helsinki has magnificent archipelago views!

I fell in love with the sweet street signs that have besides the street names even fish symbols separating them from each other! In Helsinki we have exotic animal symbols in the historical center but I thought these fish symbols were really adorable!

Probably the most well known café in the Old Town of Ekenäs is Café Gamla Stan, truly a delight for the eye! I highly recommend it for everyone visiting Ekenäs!

You might think I'm silly but I like all kind of wind and weather vanes! In this coastal town I found one of course in the form of a ship!

Could you imagine living behind this beautiful gate? The wings of history are truly beating here! Just lovely!

I also found the street number signs, bird feeders and plant decorations to be precious! Every child's dream is a swing on the back yard!

And have a look at these attractive window decorations - just glorious!

Eventually I found a cosy café to sit down and read some in on the courtyard of a lovely villa. The café is called Sillen like the street block meaning the Atlantic herring. The personnel was truly friendly and hospitable. I don't think one could find a cosier café for a summer day, am I right?

"A wise old owl sat on an oak: the more he saw, the less he spoke: the less he spoke, the more he heard: why aren't we like that wise old bird?"